A trip to Chicago for a family wedding.....

Mike and I went to Chicago last weekend for my niece's wedding. We traveled in tandem with my brother Steve, his wife Pam and their grand daughter Amanda who all live in Springfield Missouri. My other brother David and his kids Becca and Nathan met us there. We missed David's Natalie and my sister, her husband and son Corey. Wish we ALL could have been together! Here is my third brother Paul's wife Judith and their son Evan. Paul is the father of the bride. We are in the hotel great room...and Evan does not like his picture taken and rarely sits still....but is sooooo cute!Evan....a blurrrrr......We all are pretty much computer addicts...maybe none as bad as me! But here are Steve and Amanda on the hotel computers.Paul and Judith had us over to their lovely home for a wonderful lunch the day of the wedding. The wedding did not start until 8 and the food was to be vegan...so they gave us all a meat fix! BUT the wedding food turned out to be very delish! As was Judith's meal! Thanks guys!!!Evan in his Halloween costume....with Steve...Evan and his Uncle Dave.....Evan, Amanda and Judith....A WONDERFUL meal!Steve, Nathan, Becca, Pam and David....with Paul in the background
Next post the rehearsal dinner and wedding!

My niece's wedding in Chicago!

We were honored to be able to go to the rehearsal dinner which was held at a wonderful new Thai restaurant. The food was totally the best Thai food I have ever had and I think everyone agreed! Here is the BRIDE!! Stephanie with Amanda.......

Dan and Paul...brother of the bride and FOB!

Scott and Stephanie....the happy bride and groom on their last night of singlehood!Steve and Pam....He: "My dear would like some SAKI??" She:"What are ya....nuts!"Brothers.....Evan getting sleepy and finally holding still!!! My sweet and wonderful brothers....David and Steve.Pam and Amanda...two very special ladies!I guess you all know who these two are!! The next day we finally headed to the wedding dressed in our best! Here is my lovely and sweet niece Becca and her proud dad! This was what he would have worn when he was to have walked Becca down the aisle...but instead was in the hospital after a heart attack and major surgery. Paul walked Becca down the aisle at her wonderful outdoor wedding. We are so glad that David was at this wedding....and the rest of them to come! Who will be next??Becca, David and his son Nathan...Us.....Amanda, Pam and Steve...looking so sharp!Paul and Judith looking very, very nice!The wedding was held upstairs from a bar...but the space was sooo charming. Gorgeous flowers and votive candles all over. It really was lovely. The ceremony was pretty traditional for non traditional Stephanie! She looked beautiful! There were about 100 people there...and after the wedding, the chairs were cleared away and the reception was held right there. The ceremony was very meaningful and sweet and the reception was lots of fun. Thanks Becca for the two pics from your camera! She took this one and is a great photographer!

Steph and Amanda. Steph is a published author of two young adult books. So proud of her!! And Amanda is one of her biggest fans! Loves her books...read the new one straight through in the car coming back from the wedding! We all got our copies there...and I will be reading it soon!My cousin Anne was there with her husband Randy. It was SOOOO good to see her again! All of us kids grew up with Anne and her sisters Sally and Wendy and we share lots of memories that no one else has! I love these girls....and miss you guys so much. We need to do a reunion!!Sweet and silly Amanda....took my camera and took some great pics with it. Thanks Amanda...you were such a pleasure to be with!Receiving line fun.....Scott and Stephanie.....The food was plentiful and totally delicious!

The vegan cupcakes were the best I have EVER had....people on Facebook are still talking about them!
Thank you Mr and Mrs Scott Lewis for such a great wedding!!! And thank you Paul and Judith!

Lucas is in a Parade!!

Yesterday we went to the Affton Days Parade and Festival. Luke, Mike's grandson played the trumpet in the High School Marching Band in the parade! He is only in Middle school but is soooo good that he was in the HS marching band! It was a nice parade and festival and a beautiful day! Here we are waiting for the parade to come to our location.... Mike, Tammy, Marsha and Terry. These St. Louis County biking policemen entertained us gals...before the parade got to us....very good looking guys! Great legs! ;-)

The Honor Guard.....

Finally the parade gets to us.....

Here comes the Bayless HS marching band!!!

The little guy is Luke! They moved so fast I really could not get a good picture of him....

Here he demonstrates his trumpet playing!

Tammy...the proud mom....and her mom.....

The proud grandpa!!

Wait...is that a smile????

He does love his trumpet! Good job, Lucas!!

The Fabulous Forest Park Balloon Glow!

This past Friday, we were lucky enough to be able to go to the Forest Park Balloon glow. To go to this is our friends, the Smith family's tradition....and this year they invited us along! They inflate the balloons the night before the Great Forest Park Balloon Race...and it was a perfect evening for it! We got there early enough to get a good spot to set up our table, chairs and coolers for picnicking before the event. We could then just walk across the street after it got dark to walk among the (I think about 100) balloons and see them inflate and glow. I know there were many thousands of people there and traffic was awful! We had no problem cause of getting there early. We hung around and left after the crowd too.....which took a couple of hours after the fireworks to disperse. For those of you who do not know....Forest Park is St. Louis' Central Park...great spaces, lakes, boathouse, skating rink, zoo. It is where the 1904 World's Fair was held. Remember "Meet me in St. Louis"?

Here was our set up....Charlie and Barb, Catie(Ron and Jan's dtr) and her two kids, Jan, Ron and Mike and Laura ( Mike's dtr)and Ella arrived later. Ron and his grandson, Austin.....

Charlie playing with Luke, the Smith's other grandson....

Someone lost this thing.....weird sheepskin thing....

Luke pulling Ella and Austin in her wagon....the kids had so much fun!!

Sweet Ella Grace!!

Boy mom made me a big sandwich!

And I took a BIG bite!

Gary....Jan's brother and family arrived just in time to get a parking place near us!!

The youngest Smith.....Austin Knoerle...a cutie!

Walking among the balloons was something I never will forget!

Ella LOVED it! Was a real trooper! Walked very far and never let go of my hand!

Laura and her daughter.....

A FUN trip to Michigan!!

We just returned from a great trip to Michigan!! Saw lots of our wonderful friends up there and enjoyed the fabulous weather! It was so much fun!! Here is our house....find us a buyer and we will treat you to a steak, seafood and champagne dinner!! I took this pic of the back of the house as a "before" pic...we are having our handy dandy neighbor put cedar shake siding on it which we hope will improve our 'curb' appeal! Thanks Denny!

The leaves were just starting to turn.....

We miss the birches down here.....

Here is the village garden in Tustin which is maintained by Sandie Leach. Sandie you do an awesome job!! Wish I had your skills and dedication!!

Another view of this lovely garden....

Our church which still means so much to us....cannot find one here to live up to it's warmth. It is the people as much as the building!

My former co-workers from CFP met me for drinks in Cadillac one evening....miss you guys sooo much! Here is Karen.....

And another Karen....Mr and Mrs Foisie!

Mari and Karen.....

Becky looking quite thoughtful...... Should I have more chips???

OH WAIT!!! Is that a Margarita on my a**?????

It really was not THAT funny!!

Melissa.... Mel you are nuts!! Thanks for meeting me you guys!! Next time we will do it again!

I swear....there was party every night!! Some couples met us at Bonfire Grill for dinner....Here is Ruthie and Jim. Hey Jim.....SMILE!!!!

Ted and Mary....love you guys!

One night we drove over toward Ludington to have dinner with Jim and Norma...FUN!!

You guys are soooo cute!

The last night we were there, we went over to Jack and Midge's WONDERFUL cabin on the Pine River for Happy Hour and then all went to a bar in Irons for music, drinks and food. Crazy fun night!! Jack and Midge....thank you so much for the wonderful appetizers!Their cabin is sooooo gorgeous!!

The view from the deck.....looking down on the Pine River.....

I took this looking in the window at the gorgeous interior. Sue acting silly! Missed you George!!

Chowing down out on the deck....a lovely evening!

The Pine.......

At the bar......

Really great funky music....country and bluegrass.....

Our group.....

Nacho's.....YUMMMMM

Concentrating on the nachos and the beer!! Thanks Don and Bev for introducing us to this place!

Midge and Jack dancing.....

A perfect way to end a great trip! Miss you all!!!!

McGuire Family Dinner

A couple of weeks ago, we had my Uncle John McGuire (my birthfather's brother), his lovely wife Kathy and my dear cousin Paulette McGuire Wolz and her Walt over for a wonderful family dinner. It was lots of fun...great conversation...some McGuire stories and memories which I had never heard before...and much family love! Can't wait until the next time!! Love you guys!!! Paulette, Uncle John and me......

Kathy and John McGuire...so in love after all these years!!!!

Paulette and Walt.....

So GLAD you all took the time to drive out here!!!

Ending August on a GOOD note!

Here are just some random things we have done in the past couple of weeks. Had our friends the Smiths and the Foulds over for a BBQ. The Smiths brought their darling grandson, Austin with them. He was sooo good and such a cutey! Here we got a visit from our neighbor's kitty....she is sooo friendly...we call her "Anybody's"

Chuck and Anybody's

A sweet kitty.....

And our own sweeter kitty Cali.....an inside cat only....

We bought a new to us car....a 2008 PT cruiser.....very cute and zippy which gets excellent mileage! We love it!!

This past Saturday some of us went to a nearby winery for an evening of music and wine, food and fun. We had a great antipasto plate and wonderful wine. Wenwood Farm Winery. Check out their website....

The evening was beautiful....the scenery too....in a gorgeous valley....

The musicians were in the pavilion. They have different ones every Saturday. This group played jazz and bluesy things...and some rock.

We stayed until dark and then we were getting chilly. Getting chilly the 29th of August in Missouri!! Amazing!!! The weather has been so nice and cool this summer. We are sooo lucky!!

Now on to September and more fun and adventures!! Including going back to Michigan for a visit!